Second walking day of the year is always glummer than the first, and this one proves to be no exception, and whilst I know I have plenty of fresh trails to blaze in the territory of West Leeds, getting away from Morley on paths not walked before is getting a lot more challenging, especially in this direction, with only three possible places to cross the M621. So first steps away from Queen Street at 10.30am, lead me behind the town hall and on past the leisure centre, and on Scatcherd Lane, all a case of so far so familiar, until I detour into the residential streets of East Park Street and The Roundway, located beyond the Sports clubs and their fields, just because they lead to the footpath that skirts the perimeter of Bruntcliffe Cemetery, all sought because it's a different route up to the A643/A650 crossroads. Over the M621 on the Wakefield Road once again, but detour into the Gildersome Spur industrial estate to seek the other remnant of Gildersome Tunnel, the uncapped shaft and smokestack that still endures in the yard of one unit, dressed in brick it strikes an incongruous and yet pleasing sight, largely because the west portal was needlessly landscaped away near the Showcase cinema at Birstall. Back to the trail and on along a different path across the industrial estate, which is overgrown, muddy and rather too well hidden as it sneaks between walls, fences and undergrowth, but it does provide a tiny smidge of the GNR's former Ardsley - Laisterdyke line's embankment on the approach to Gildersome Street station. Emerge dirty and prickled on the A62, and another path is made into Gildersome, again between industrial units before meeting the playing fields' perimeter and a dirt track behind a variety of council houses. Gain pavements on Vicarage Avenue, and then Finkle Street leads to Street Lane, a familiar corner and its on past the Friends Meeting House once again before turning onto Church Lane, where the parish church hides modestly and the Baptist church makes a much bolder statement.
Initial impressions of the village's haphazard development are not chaellenged before I seek the downhill path into the countryside, expecting many wrinkles before my track hits Pudsey, taking an elevated look towards Tong (which is actually Drighlington form this angle) before striking down on a path across some particularly ancient fields, narrow and ranged down the hillside suggesting medieval antiquity. Gain a non mud-grass surface before hitting New Lane, and rise past the former mills to the impressively embankmented side on the A58, next to the Valley Inn, and the Leeds Country Way route, decscending into Cockersdale's bucolic splendour once again, all the way down to the Tong Beck crossing but then ascending Springfield Lane, a heavily broken and damp track. This takes us into Bradford district, the incursion of which into Leeds's territory makes little sense in two dimensions but makes a tone of sense when encountered on the ground, and meet Tong Road close to the village that names it, and only see about a third of the village before starting out onto Keeper Lane, a slightly firmer track that leads up past the manor house and then over the crest to descend for a long distance down towards Tyersal Beck, the sort of path you really don't feel like ascending. It may look like all greenery around here from below the cover of trees, but the eager eye might spot the remnants of a tramway that used to serve the iron workings in the area, and the old OS maps will tell you of coal mining in this vicinity too. Nowadays, the Fulneck golf course is the major feature of the area, met once across the knot of paths that caught my interest on the Leeds Country Way four years ago. Paths keep me away from golfers, thankfully and the last major ascent of the day is a lung-burster, but remembering to look back to where you've come from will show up the Gildersome Brickworks and Tong Hall, neither of which could be seen on the way out.
My choice of path leads me to the Fulneck Moravian Settlement, established by religious dissenters from central Europe in the mid eighteenth century, and now forming an odd little enclave that seems out of time and unusual in location, mostly inhabited by Fulneck school and one of the most significant architectural sites in the county, another place to have me wondering how it took me so long to visit it. Feeling aesthetically fortified, I push on into Pudsey, and the sights along Fartown are much more mundane after that cultural feast, but interest is piqued once I move onto Carlisle Road, as it seems that the east portal of Pudsey Greenside tunnel on the former GNR Pudsey Loop line has been exposed, with all the vegetation cleared from its deep cutting. The immediate hope is that it is getting usefully revived, but the reality is more probably that it is going to be infilled as residential development has already claimed the post industrial land to the south and it has to have more perceived value as land for houses than as a big hole in the ground. Drift up to Chapeltown and the war memorial on the corner, convinced that Pudsey likes one word street names, and the church of St Lawrence & St Paul proves to be one of those buildings that looks better on the horizon that it does up close, disappointingly. Push on, finding the footpath that skirts the perimeter wall of the extensive borough cemetery, and this leads to Cemetery Road, where lots of housing has grown on the factory sites shown on the old E288 that I still insist on using, despite having bought a new one. It's council estates and views across Bramley and Stanningley to the north, and I'd have hoped for better but the glum weather has not been kind to today, and it's sticky going on the footpath that leads out to the green space above the Ring Road and the Owlcotes centre, Owl Cotes Hill, naturally, from where the Aire-Wharfe gap would show up much more boldly without the damp haze. Still, almost at the finish line now, slipping my way downhill to the A647 crossing, to get over eventually and acknowledge that New Pudsey station really does serve a car park firstly and the surrounding settlements a distant second, all done at 1.45pm, and the new boots having proved good for another day.
5,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 2030.5 miles
2016 Total: 16.1 miles
Up Country Total: 1856.8 miles
Solo Total: 1800.4 miles
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| Bruntcliffe Cemetery, Morley. If you have a walking career that lasts long enough, you'll eventually seek out paths for the sole purpose of walking down them. |
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| Gildersome Tunnel ventilation shaft. It is ridiculous just how happy I am that this has endured for 50+ years since the tunnel's closure. |
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| Gildersome Baptist church, possibly the boldest building in the borough. |
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| Springfield Lane, the bridleway into Bradford district feels pretty much forgotten about, an ideal passage for riders and cyclists too! |
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| Tong. Yes, it is a place, who knew? |
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| Tyersal Beck and the mess of crossings, and tramway abutments too! |
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| Fulneck church and school, an architectural and cultural oasis that is quite unlike anywhere else in the whole county, a step back in time if there were ever one! |
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| Pudsey Greenside tunnel. Really good to see the west portal again after so many years hidden by vegetation. Less good to know that it could soon disappear forever beneath infilling and houses. |
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| Pudsey Parish church, a bold sight on the horizon but a rather austere take on Victorian Gothic Revival when encountered up close. |
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| Owlcotes shopping centre from Owl Cotes Hill, a rare undeveloped green spot that would be an excellent view point on a nicer day. |
Next Up: One more trail from Home, to East Leeds, for a change.
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